On History, Sustainability and the Energy Crisis

Abstract

The themes of sustainability and the energy crisis have led to diverse reflections in the economic, political, social, philosophical, and cultural spheres over the last 50 years, resulting in proposals that point to the historic interaction between humanity and nature. The premise is the realization that the planet and its components, substantiated as natural, are finite, and their scarcity and probable extinction puts the existing socioeconomic and cultural systems at risk. By analyzing the systematized premises and propositions on these themes, one can see that historiography has not shied away from addressing them, indicating that the logic of the prevailing socioeconomic and cultural system seeks its “eternal” permanence.